ring of power

Our power went out last night. I do what most people I imagine do when that happens. I immediately check to see if neighbor homes are without power as well, and usually that's the case. This time, however, the evidence confirmed it was just us. 

It was eerie because we had JUST finished watching [Bugonia]. Honestly, I'd just exited Netflix as the credits had been rolling. For those not familiar, Bugonia is a Sci-Fi, alien conspiracy story starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons. It kept me guessing until the end, and I found it brought up several thought-provoking themes. 

So I was deep in the throes of pondering, "what the heck did we just watch?" when *ZHUUUP* Power outage and total darkness and quiet.

We managed to locate our main breaker, which had been tripped, and get the juice flowing again. Logic says it tripped from larger than typical energy usage - likely our AC units - but maybe the aliens were just messing with us. 

We did discover bees or wasps starting to make a hive/nest in our breaker box, and it so happens that bees/beekeeping is a theme in Bugonia. Call me crazy... (or don't. That's okay)

We also watched [Apex] starring Charlize Theron. It was predictable, rather implausible, but entertaining enough. Met expectations, invoked no power outages.

We did a "heated" bicycle ride this morning. Apparently, exerting oneself in the heat has certain health benefits as long as it doesn't kill. We both survived, so I'll consider it a beneficial morning. Shady stretches were much welcomed, sun drenched stretches felt like riding over hot coals. Good balance.

Last weekend, I got a pneumonia vaccine. I noticed that the friendly pharmacist jabbed me nearly right on top of my smallpox vaccine scar. Those of us who own one of those are becoming fewer and farther between. 

Enhanced mine for clarity in the photo. Got one?

It's like having a special license plate that says "vintage" or "classic".

Right??

ex encounters, nice hands, pain

Magnum and I were out at a coffee shop this morning. I noticed a couple of women walking in, and did a brief glance up. There was a nanosecond of eye contact recognition before I quickly looked away. One of them was none other than my ex. 

Yeah, my ex hair stylist. 

Several months ago, I mentioned here about [a weird haircut experience]. It was weird enough that I'd  decided not to go back and to find a different salon, even though I'd been going only to this same stylist for over two years. I've since found another stylist - great location, easy going atmosphere, very reasonably priced - and all is well in my hair world. 

I figured the ex wouldn't really notice my absence. She has a fairly large clientele, and all I ever got were cuts. No dye jobs, no other treatments. Get in, get out, every coupla months. But in that nanosecond of eye contact at the coffee shop, I feel quite sure she recognized me and probably thought, "Hey, that's what's-her-face", and then realized "She hasn't been in for quite a while". 

Had I still been going to her for cuts, I would surely have stopped and chatted a bit this morning, asked about her holidays, the family, etc. As it was, I continued whatever I was talking about with Magnum. The ex was wearing eyeglasses, which she didn't wear at the salon. I still recognized her, but could easily feign a Clark Kent phenomenon going on. Silly, I know. But it felt good to skedaddle outta there before things got awkward, ha!

In other news, I continue to celebrate Boxing Day by cleaning out a few unwanted items. Soon, I'll have enough for a thrift store drop-off. And I took down our sparse Christmas decorations yesterday.

We watched a couple of movies this weekend. [Watching the Detectives] is just goofy and quirky, starring Cillian Murphy and Lucy Liu.

Is it a romcom? I guess it's a romcom. 

We've been watching [Peaky Blinders] and are on the final (6th) season. So it was fun and interesting to see Cillian Murphy as someone SO So so different from Tommy Shelby!

Same great hands, though. Ever noticed what nice hands Cillian Murphy has? Well... I digress.

The other movie was [A Real Pain], both in title and in watching it. Okay, it's gotten favorable reviews, but it didn't do much for either of us. 

Only about an hour and a half lost, though.

Now, we're in the lull week between Christmas and New Years. The college is closed. I will stay out of trouble. Maybe I'll schedule a hair appointment.

midterm swamp and corn

Magnum and I took a typical Sunday morning bicycle ride this morning. Had to bundle up, temperatures were struggling to get out of the 30's. But it was a sunny, calm breeze ride that included a coffee stop. Win.

This week, I noticed another whiteboard question at the part-time faculty break room: 

Not many responses as yet, so maybe the ink was still wet. I noticed the "Super Pretzels with Cheeseツ" is no longer, but I think it would apply to mid-semester decompress.

So yes, it seems we're halfway through this fall semester. I've got a couple of concerning students who stand a good chance of failing their math courses. No fault of their own, really. They work hard, but just didn't learn enough in high school and were shuffled off to college anyway. A global pandemic didn't do them any favors.

In other horrors, we watched "Children of the Corn" this weekend. I'd never watched it but recall it was considered extremely scary back in its day. We found it not scary at all, but entertaining enough in a nostalgic kind of way. 

A lot has changed in the "extremely scary" genre in the last 40 years. Zombies took over?

We took a family road trip throug Nebraska several years ago. There definitely is a LOT of corn in Nebraska. Where there's no pavement or concrete... there's corn. Watch out for them children.

fragmentary recall

This was a shortened weekend for me as I worked yesterday - Saturday rotation time again. Another seemingly productive week down. Let's bullet.

• I finished a novel this week - The Silent Patient. When I went to add it to my Goodreads, I strangeley saw that I'd already read it? Really? Apparently, in 2019. Well, it wasn't memorable the first go. And it even has a twisty, big reveal ending. Oh well, 4 stars.
  
  
• Speaking of memory, we watched Total Recall - the 2012 version with Colin Farrell.

It was pretty much what I expected. A lot of shoot-em-up, running around, heavy CGI, etc. But I won't say no to 2012 Colin Farrell. 

• Speaking of pastimes, it occurred to me, out of the blue this week, that I would probably enjoy bird watching. That made me feel old, where did that come from?
  *I know bird watching isn't just for old people, it just made me feel old to suddenly find it appealing*
  
  

• Speaking of hobbies, our tutor bosses at work asked each of us math tutors to put together a "tutor bio". It should be 100 - 150 words and include our educational background, which campuses we support, etc.
  
  

I typed one up, and the word count was 50. *SIGH*. I mean, I said all the things. What more is there? They encouraged us to add "fun facts" about ourselves. Ugh. 

The only maybe fun fact, if you would call it that, is that I've been a regular blogger for over 20 years, but I don't tell real life people about that. 

I'm not saying anything about bird watching either.

if you leave

Happy spring break! One week off for the college kids. The testing center is still open , though, so I'm expected for my two shifts. Fine.

This week, we felt the effects of Star's leaving the testing center. We have just enough staff now, so if someone is out sick (happened Monday) or if someone is off scribing a 3-hour test for a blind student (me, yesterday), the void is quite obvious.

Boss was rather frazzled when I returned from Thor's test yesterday. He and Kitty were the sole holders down of the fort for most of the afternoon. I was a bit frazzled after scribing a 3-hour test for a blind student. Kitty was frazzled because she's still getting back up to speed after her recent return from family leave. In short, the frazzled three stayed late to get everything caught up.

I haven't yet had the "should I stay or should I go?" discussion with Boss because it's been... well, too busy.

On a related note, I learned a new word this week: amenuensis

"a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority.

In some academic contexts, an amanuensis can assist an injured or disabled person in taking written examinations.

Hmm, our documentation shows "scribe". Does an amenuensis make better pay? Syllable based pay?

No epic plans for the break at my end. Maybe do some spring cleaning, as that's always a good time. 

Last night, we watched the movie, [Metal Lords]. Typical plot of high school outcasts banding (literally) together and finding meaningful relationships. 

Not bad, often cute. About an hour and a half of not having to think too much. It's humorous, but also touches upon bullying, rebellion, and mental illness.

One of my tutees this week told me she's looking forward to her psychiatrist appointment on Monday. 

"I haven't taken any meds for two months!", she excitedly revealed.

"Oh? And you're feeling good?", I asked.

"No, not at all!", she replied, wide-eyed and smiling.

ADHD, not for me.

a Friday five

• Because of Memorial Day Monday, I only worked two days this week. I normally have Wednesdays and Fridays off and there is no tutoring happening until next week. Not complaining as I got caught up on a few housekeepery things and enjoyed some nice weather time.

• In the meantime, [PEO]'s keeping me pretty busy. State convention is coming up. I'm not a delegate but got talked into helping out on one of the days since convention is nearby.

• We ended up taking our pooch Merlin to the vet as his symptoms from last week weren't really improving. Vet "gave" him (sold us) some special food that has helped and ran some tests. His bloodwork came back, and Vet says, "this could likely be from an infection or a type of cancer".

Sheesh, talk about two ends of a spectrum. For now, we're treating it as an infection and will watch and wait. Merlin seems like his old self, and hopefully that holds.

• I don't like wearing sunscreen, yet I live in a place with lots of sun and lots of cases of melanoma. As such, I often wear these moisture wicking long-sleeved tops when I'm outdoors on hot days. 

I got a couple from yamazon that include these thumbholes. 

Made for short-armed people, I suppose. Thumbholes miles away from my thumbs. Oh well, I don't usually use thumbholes anyway.

• I kind of want to see [Furiosa] in the theater. The movie  didn't do so well in the box office for opening weekend, however. We saw the last Mad Max movie, [Fury Road], in the theater. 

I went in expecting some macho testosterone shoot-em-up, but I found it surprisingly good - wonderfully artistic, with an epic soundtrack, not to mention... Tom Hardy.

distraction

Since the semester's winding down, I've been able to indulge in more playtime/ escapism/ however to categorize it. When I'm playing with my art toys, I typically stream a movie to keep me entertained. Perhaps, more importantly, it gives me a time limit, so I don't get lost and totally neglect my adult responsibilities.

Recently, I watched the movie [Waiting], which was a silly movie I'd never seen but had heard of. It's about a staff of young restaurant workers, and pretty realistic (been there, done that) Ryan Reynolds comedy. I kept that in mind and had low expectations, so it worked out and I drew some apples.

Magnum and I have been watching the [Shogun] miniseries on Hulu. Or I should say, Magnum's been watching it. I'd taken to doodling while it's on, and I've got big gaps in my following along because it's mostly in Japanese, and I don't speak Japanese. I understand it's quite good. I'll vouch for the cinematography and costuming being well done, and I got a spider kid drawing out of it. 

Yesterday, I streamed [Border], which is Swedish, but I'd seen it before while not distracted, so I was able to follow along even though I don't speak Swedish. 

"Border" is an interesting story for lack of a better word. Have you seen it? It's realistic fantasy? If that's even a thing. It pulled me in, having me wondering where the heck it's going. Then it goes somewhere, and I was all, "What??", and it goes somewhere again to where I was all, "WHAAATT??"  Add a few more "WHAA-HAAAAATT??", and that's the movie Border.

I can't even really explain the plot, and I think it's best to watch it, not knowing a thing. I will say that I did not watch the final one third or so during this second viewing.  The subject matter becomes too disturbing for my taste at that point. I still recommend attentively watching it, though.

Anyway, I got a Bucee Beaver statue out of it.

fancy pants in the wind

Like many across the country right now, we're fighting the wind wars. I trekked the one mile to the gym this morning and saw lots of tree trash and bowed fencing from yesterday and last night. It's predicted to taper off this afternoon and evening - something to look forward to.

I worked yesterday with Triple-D and [Chili], which I didn't mind since it was a good day to be stuck indoors. And it was a nice time.  Everyone seemed friendlier than usual, and I'm chalking that up to Chili's presence. 

Also as predicted, my stepfather-in-law did pass away late Thursday/ early Friday. I'm relieved for him as his quality of life was very low by that time. Thankfully, he was able to live with home hospice care with my mother-in-law until the final breath. I'm relieved for her too and hope she can relax some now.

So yesterday after work, while the wind was howling and rattling the windows, I stayed in and did some much needed cleaning. Seems like I could produce a whole dog out of the hair I vacuum up each time - the downside of dog ownership.

I also played with my sketchbook and pencilled another of these Akira Toriyama characters. 

This one is named Kid Buu and is apparently "pure evil".

I really know nothing about the whole Dragonball scene, just find the characters so expressive in their posturing.

Kid Buu or not, after the exercise, I think of him simply as "Mr. Fancy Pants"

We watched a movie - The Novice - about obsessive compulsive behavior and perfectionism (I guess). It got a high rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but I didn't care for it.  And it wasn't just because it was about womens collegiate rowing, I mean, the main character had to have something to obsess about to get the points across. I just didn't care about the character.

Yesterday, I learned that one of the nursing students who tests with us at the college had been a vet tech for years. She said the sick animals made her too sad, so she decided to switch to nursing people because she figures people won't have as much of an effect. Hmmm.

Today's agenda includes a coffee walk in the wind and a dog food and cat litter run. Excitement.

cows and foodies

I have a super foggy, super vague memory of meeting Elsie the cow "in-person". Anyone familiar with Elsie? She was the real-life cow mascot of Borden dairy back in the day. Apparently, she toured.

I seem to have been enamored with Elsie at a very young age, and I'm not sure if the enamoredness happened before I met her or after. So I can't say how it began, but I do know I had an Elsie the cow plush toy for a number of years - probably a souvenir from our fateful meeting. God only knows what became of that plush toy. I just remember she MOOO-ed when tipped. Cow tipping, ha!

*On a side note, cow-tipping is not a real thing. I think I blogged about my failed attempt at it previously...*

Anyway, my bff Elsie is likely the reason I stopped eating beef several years ago. This week, I finally got 'round to trying rice "milk" as a substitute for cow's milk, and by George, I can do it. Now... about that cheese...

Somewhat related, we got around to watching "The Menu" this weekend. Seen it? I enjoyed it, i.e. I didn't fall asleep.

It makes fun of prententious "foodies". I confess to enjoy watching behind-the-scenes videos of fancy pants restaurants I will likely never visit, and that interest is more from my days as a kitchen worker myself - one of the "shit shovelers" (reference from the movie), rather than a patron. "The Menu" clearly makes the we-vs.-them distinction.

I thought the movie was well done and well cast. Can Anya Taylor-Joy act badly in any role?

So, that's about it for this week's accomplishments: I scored a minor win in fighting my bovine oppression and stayed awake throughout an entire movie.

I also sketched a frog recently in an attempt to awaken my drawing slump since the end of Inktober.

might be done

As predicted, this past week was a busy one. It was good busy - productive. 

Between testing, tuting, scribing, and interviewing, it was like I had to remind myself that I work part-time and not full. But all good and temporary.

My hiring committee cohorts and I finished up first round interviews for the assistant boss position. There were eight applicants in all, and we ended up recommending a whopping two for second/ final  round with Boss and GrandBoss.

I mentioned a while back that two of the current part-timers expressed interest in the position. One is great, as everybody agrees. The other, not so much. WELL, the Star ended up being filtered out by HR for not having the requisite 2+ years of administrative experience. Bummer. She is young, so just starting to build her skill set. She was fine with it, no worries there.

The other - formerly referred to here as "Slacker", but I feel I should change that, let's call her Kitty - applied and made it through the initial HR filter.

We interviewed her, and it did not go particularly well. In the end, we decided that, just because we know her and like her and work with her, that wasn't enough to grant her a 2nd interview along with the two strongest cadidates. 

So, things could be awkward at work for a while. We shall see. But the whole "be objective" and "beware of implicit bias" was constantly drummed into us from HR, so hopefully Kitty will understand. She is just so not ready for that responsibility. Honestly, I have a hard time believing she actually wants it? I think she mainly  wants full-time benefits. Understandable.

In other recruitment news, it appears that we have new neighbors after the house next door sat vacant for the last two months. 

I haven't seen any actual people, but I did briefly encounter the silhouette of a smallish pooch wandering around their yard. We've had decent enough neighbors since moving here 4 years ago. Fingers crossed that remains true. Either way, I suppose I can stop shoveling their snow now.

We watched a weird movie last night. May December is streaming on Netflix. The names and some circumstances are changed, but it's clearly about Mary Kay Letourneau and the tabloid romance rape of Villi Fualaau.

It takes place years later as their kids are grown and leaving the nest. Natalie Portman plays an actress researching the family so she can play Mary Kay Letourneau in a movie. It had a dark, slow vibe, and then ended abruptly. Good performances, but a bit strange. I'm wondering what message the writer was going for?

tan lines and pelicans, nope

Happy Easter, or Ostara for the pagans, or Sunday for all. We are enjoying pleasant springtime weather to coincide with the holiday.

I enjoyed a happy morning run along the creek where I met up with tan lines and pelicans. Two firsts for the year.

The pelicans seem to be happily cohabitating with the ducks and geese of the neighborhood. But they typically don't hang around for very long

It does feel like spring fever is kicking in for many. Tutees are dragging their way, just wanting to make it to the end of the semester. That one student who had covid about a month ago is still dealing with the aftermath - secondary infections - as the semester marches on.

We watched Nope last night. Seen it? Jordan Peele movie about aliens? Or rather, more specifically, Jordan Peele movie about UAPs  or unidentified aerial phenomena. 

I guess UAP has replaced UFO as the term of choice because people connote UFO with big-eyed aliens.

Anyway, I liked the movie well enough. It was entertaining, not mind blowing, but entertaining. Likeable characters except for the... well... y'know.

behavior

Happy April, we are a fourth of the way into 2023. There are neighbors around the corner from us who still have Christmas lights up that come on each night. I wonder if they're really into Christmas or lights or have them on a forgotten timer?

This week, we had Chaco's pooch, Ella, boarding with us while Chaco travelled for work. She's a fun dog who blends in well with her "cousins", Penny and Merlin. And what's one more dog adding to the extensive pile of pet hair?

So, the dogs enjoy these sleepovers. The cat, Napolion, not so much. He expects to maintain his status as the Alpha pet at all times, but Ella has yet to get the memo. It's a bit of a furry juggling act for us resident humans.

Speaking of animals, we watched Nocturnal Animals, and The Shape of Water in movie news. Both were entertaining - I stayed awake throughout. 

Nocturnal Animals is a revenge story-within-a-story. I'm not a big fan of Jake Gyllenhaal, but he was well cast in this one. Amy Adams and Michael Shannon did well with their roles, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson is an it-don't-matter actor for me... As in, if he's in the movie, none of the other details matter, I'll gladly watch. 

I was aware that The Shape of Water won the Academy Award for Best Picture the year it was nominated, but had never seen it. I liked it well enough, but honestly, it was a bit too whimsical for me. Great plot, too much whimsey, and the soundtrack grated on me for a lot of it. It was like a kids' movie that included sex and violence. And again, the actors were great.

And speaking of violence, a month or so ago, a house not far from us was a total loss in a fire. Once the embers cooled, a deceased woman was found inside, and a man against whom she had a restraining order was located at the scene. 

I often run along the sidewalk that backs up to what is left of the house. The fence is gone, exposing the charred remains.

I don't know of any updates in the investigation, apparently I'm not in a need-to-know position. Sad, though. It's a quiet residential street - bicycles, basketball hoops, walk chalk, etc. And now this.

I will gladly opt for Christmas lights in April.

all stuck inside

We've made it to the final days of February, and I can't say I'm sad to see it go. Several years ago, when we lived in upstate New York where winters were long and grey, a friend told me, "We just have to make it to the end of February..." - a time of light at the end of the tunnel.

We're not in upstate NY anymore, but I still look forward to February's end. By now, I'm over having snow and ice that gets old and crusty as it refuses to leave, just to get buried by another layer. 

It's currently very pleasant outside after a cold, snowy, blustery week. The college shut down and moved to "remote operations" on Wednesday, which is a general pain. Instructors scramble to provide something meaningful online so as to not fall behind. We have online course options, so students who enroll in in-person classes do so because they don't like online.

There's a certain math instructor, we'll call her "Sarah",  who is always smiley-happy-cheerful. Really, she reminds me more of fun elementary school teacher than a college math instructor. For instance, she told me of some cheesy math messages she shared with her classes on Valentine's day:

If you don't get them, no worries, they are truly cheesy. If you do get them, don't say I didn't warn you!

Anyway, Sarah had a test scheduled for Thursday. Only ONE student attended her Zoom review on Wednesday, and only a fourth of the class showed up for the test on Thursday, siting  "it's too cold".

With that, apparently those present witnessed "another side of Sarah".

It's too cold??

Speaking of chilling and remote, Magnum and I watched an interesting movie this weekend. Possessor is about an assassin who carries out her jobs - as part of some mysterious organization - by remotely taking over another person and having them do the deed. The movie didn't really get into the technology of how she implants herself - it's sort of glossed over like a chip is inserted, blah blah - because that's not really the focus of the film. It's more of a psychological, cerebral, artsy sci-fi.

I liked it - a good storyline and acting that really held my attention. That said, however, it is quite gory and graphic, and I wouldn't recommend it to those who aren't comfortable with blood and lots of it. We saw the uncut version on Hulu, and there is apparently a milder cut version. But the movie deals with the assassin losing control of one of her hosts/victims when the host becomes somewhat aware of what's happening and tries to fight it.

While I felt that the gore was often gratuitously overdone, I still liked the movie overall for its thought provoking darkness. And the ending... well! No spoilers.

drifting

Winter solstice 2022 is Wednesday, 12.21.22 at 2:47pm MST, but who's counting? I'm looking forward to more daylight/ less nightdark. We're almost there. Will my headlight batteries last long enough?

I'm appreciating the warm house after a cold, blustery week. Today is just cold without the blustery. We've been step-by-step replacing pieces of our house, a former rental. Last year it was water pipes, water heater, windows, furnace. Now we've moved onto washer, kitchen range, and are currently in the middle of a bit of dishwasher drama, and it's all good. Appliance makeover is nearly complete. *looking at you, old fridge*.

The new range has an induction cooktop, which is very cool (and hot), and I'm still learning its idiosyncrasies. I have a voucher for a 6-piece cookset from Samsung in exchange for my review on their website. Haven't given the review as the range is still pretty new, plus... I don't need the cookset. We'll see if I get motivated enough to submit a review.

In entertainment news, this week we watched a couple of good movies. Firstly, Emily the Criminal with Aubrey Plaza as the title character. I thought it was really well-done, although I didn't like any of the characters. In this case, I didn't need to like the characters to like the movie... and now I'm paranoid about credit card fraud.

We also watched Troll, a Norwegian movie about, well, a troll. It's basically a monster movie, but it was better than I expected, having some colorful, well-written characters. 

And I'm reminded of the 2010 film "Troll Hunter", which was also quite good.  Troll Hunter is not necessarily a monster movie. It's presented like a documentary production made by a group of film students. Bunches of fun!

I'm looking forward to wrapping up this week at work, then we have a week off before the January fun begins. Boss had his interview for that promotion, so we've all got fingers crossed but not counting any chickens. 

I'm about as ready as I'm going to be for Christmas. Just need to get the food. Minor detail.

saving time

Happy November on standard time. I don't know anyone who likes the twice-a-year ritual of changing our clocks ahead or back an hour, but here we are still doing it. I'm more of a morning person, so if I were to choose a preference, I guess I'd go with standard time, but really, I'd be happy to just pick ONE and done.

I did another one of those Tortoise and Hare races this morning - this one a 5k. It was well attended under overcast skies and about 40 degrees F.  Results aren't in yet, so I don't have a final count on attendees, but it was probably the most crowded of these races I've done yet. Granted, I started doing them in 2020, somewhat socially distanced, so it's good to see the numbers continuing to increase.

As far as my performance, I felt pretty good about it. My big push to the finish was a bit hampered by the crowd - the nature of these Tortoise and Hares is that the pack gets thicker closer to the finish - so it was more of a big bob and weave, but much fun was had and that's the point. 

We watched a couple of movies this weekend. Firstly, Athena was an engrossing film, loaded with symbolism and complex cinematography. Thinking back on it now, I don't remember any "slow" parts with any sort of breather. That said, it's also very gritty, violent, and edgy and is not one I would recommend for the masses. It's French with English subtitles, and it was challenging to follow the dialogue while also taking in all the visuals. The ending left us with more questions than answers, and I'm sure if we watched it again, we'd see things we missed the first go around.

Nextly, we watched The Way Way Back which was certainly on the lighter side from Athena, but it had its share of emotion as well. It's about an awkward 14-year-old kid who spends the summer at a beachhouse with his mom, her jerk boyfriend, jerk boyfriend's daughter, and the somewhat lacking-in-morals adult friends of jerk boyfriend. 

It was cute, predictable, had its comedic moments, and I liked it well enough. Steve Carrell plays the jerk boyfriend, and it was interesting to see him as a non-humorous asshole for a change.

I've taken on a couple more tutees, and a common theme is how lacking in skills a lot of these kids are. I call them "lost children of the pandemic". 2020 and 2021 were not good years to be in high school. Ooch.

gotta let it go

Coming off a string of dud movies here. I'm not even going to mention any titles, but we've watched four bad movies in a row, and I don't like to think about the ~8 hours of my life gone to them. Actually, I got in some good napping for a couple, so not all went to waste.

I did manage a couple of decent-to-me books this month, however. "Every Last Word" pretty sure is categorized YA, but it's a good story about a teenaged girl, tiring of the pressure to be popular, who links up with some "misfit" kids and their secret poetry sessions. The story featured a surprising twist I did NOT see coming. 

I also read "Stolen", a novel which shed some light and gave an interesting take on Stockholm syndrome. I can now totally see how that's a thing.

I'll also mention that I'm blogging from my shiny new laptop. My old desktop was crashing often, requiring much TLC. Like an old person, it would lose its train of thought and just freeze, staring off into space for long moments. 

Plus, I think I mentioned how I didn't like all the space the granny computer took up on my desk, so I chucked it all into storage a couple of weeks ago and had been managing with a chromebook. Best Buy had an "early black friday" sale this weekend, so I went in and got me a deal, according to the salesperson. So far, I like!

Another busy workweek as I definitely notice an increase in in-person enrollment over last year when we were still masked and requiring COVID vaccinations. Speaking of which, I have several ineffective cloth masks from the early days of the pandemic, and I'm sure I'm not alone. What to do with 'em?

And now, inktober 2022 is coming to an end. I managed to keep my head just above water this week with four more participatory inktobers. It's been fun. Maybe I'll pick up the prompts I didn't get to in upcoming weeks (pfffft, I say that every year...)

crack me open so I feel the air inside me

Happy October, typically one of my favorite  months - not too hot, not too cold, not too dark, not too bright. It's the Goldilocks of months for me.

Yesterday, we went downtown to witness  our first Tour de Corgi. So many Corgis! 

We watched the cute,  slow, waddling parade, then checked out a few of the booths in attendance. 

It was a lovely day for the nice wholesome event that included a costume contest as well as the parade.

October also is the month of the inktober challenge, remember? Thirty-one days, thirty-one drawings? We're two days in, and my head is still above water.

This is good for me, I haven't touched my art toys in a long time. I literally had to dust everything off. 

Speaking of misfit endeavors, we watched the movie Dinner in America. What a hoot!

It started out feeling like a goofy, quirky, misfit movie, which it is. And it could've totally bombed. It's aggressive and edgy and there are lots and lots of f-bombs. But it has a rather deep - dare I say "sweet and meaningful"? - core to it. It's not for everyone, but I loved it.

weekend wrap and stuff

Mid August approaches - tutor kids going back to school, college kids moving back into town. The end-of-summer flux is upon us. I'm thankful that Meego has completed his move from the college rental to the post-college rental. U-hauls and such in this college town are extremely hard to come by this time of year.

We got together with all the kids last weekend for a little celebration of Wolfgang's birthday. It was the first time the whole brood's been together since Meego's graduation in May.  Part of that is because of the family's COVID infiltration, and part is because of fun trips and such.  Peaks and valleys, all good in the end.

In other accomplishments this week, I put new tires and new handlebar tape on Violet. Ain't she pretty?

The tires were no big deal, but I've actually never changed bar tape before and was honestly a little anxious about mucking it up. 

I decided I'd procrastinated long enough as the old tape was getting yuckier by the week.

Turns out, it's not rocket science.

And since I brought up the bicycle accessorizing, I'll give mention to the "nice rack" I got for Daisy, the commuter. 

My minimalistic ways make me reluctant to have a bunch of packs and racks and hacks hanging off my bicycles, but I had to admit that a simple cargo rack could be handy.


So now, Daisy's got back

Magnum and I recently finished a 3-season series on Hulu: Mr Inbetween. Seen it? I thought it very well done. It's violent, though. And often dark. But also heartfelt and funny. 

We watched the movie, Faults on Amazon prime video this weekend - also worthwhile IMHO and a bit twisty trippy. 

Then we watched Everything Beautiful is Far Away, which gets a "nope" from me. I think it was supposed to be whimsical and show the importance of human relationships, but to me, it felt like a show for little kids... by little kids. Admittedly, I did nod off a few times while watching, but I think I got the gist of it, and my review stands. 

And so another week ends as another begins. I have not heard anything further regarding the hoaxy emailer that stirred up all that trouble for area colleges on Friday. Hopefully the semester will start off mellow and stay that way.

triflings

Happy June!  Sun is shining, plants are blooming, birds are chirping. Speaking of plants, here's a quick George update.  Magnum got and installed some support stakes.

 Each stake is bigger than George himself. I think it looks like some sort of torture apparatus from a tribe of cannibalistic savages in our front yard, but it's doing the job.

In other news, my coworker, Martha of chucking-everything-and-retiring-to-Mexico fame has possibly contracted covid, so is out for the week. She had a possible exposure, then her husband tested positive. So although Martha's first two tests came back negative, she's thinking she's probably got it by now. 

I'm kind of surprised we've dodged it so far, Martha being the first case at the office. Not complaining, though.

Magnum and I are planning a short getaway trip later this week, so sorry if Boss wants me to fill in for Martha at week's end.  I did cover for her yesterday, so I'm still a team player, right?  I'm not sure what our covid protocols at work are at this point. 

One of Meego's friends was travelling in London when she tested positive and just needed to test every day. She was allowed to travel back once her test showed negative. At least it's the slow season at work, and I'm sure the others can handle the workload.  Isn't "every" place short staffed?

In other news, we watched a bad movie. It wasn't awful as it had some good messages, but I felt the bad outweighed the good.  The movie was "Grandma" with Lily Tomlin as a crotchety and rude old woman who helps her teenaged granddaughter procure money to have an abortion.  Seen it?

I got tired of Lily Tomlin's character's crotchety rudeness.  I don't find that entertaining, but rather annoying, and that was her chief character trait.  It was probably meant to be funny.  Otherwise, I guess the casting was good, but I'm a stickler for details and a couple of further annoying things:

• In a scene where Grandma is getting a tattoo, the tattoo machine is absolutely silent, and there's very little wiping going on.  I think even people who have never seen a tattoo done know that tattoo machines make a constant buzzing sound when tattooing.
  *upon a second viewing of the tattoo scene with earbuds, I discovered the machine DOES make a faint buzzing noise that my TV speakers didn't get to my ears. Still too quiet, though. Maybe just my crotchety, rude, old ears...
  
  
• Another scene - granddaughter pukes in the kitchen sink (preggars, remember?).  Then she continues her conversation with Grandma, and they leave the kitchen. So I'm all "Dude!  Rinse the freaking sink, sheesh!" I mean, who wouldn't rinse the sink??

So I guess that's my week that was. A tree looking tortured, a covid coworker, and a mediocre movie. I'm grateful for all of it.

camp kids, old people, and yardsticks

This gif was included in a monthly newsletter from the university, and I found it cute and hilarious.  

Those who have seen the movie, The Disaster Artist get the reference.  For those who have NOT seen it, I recommend.

The movie is weird.  And true.  And weird that it's true.

Yeah, so February is nearly over.  Days are noticeably longer, and I'm pretty happy with the balance of day to night right now.  I like a decent share of darkness, but  not too much.

And just as COVID seems to be abating, Russia goes and invades Ukraine.  Magnum was convinced it wouldn't happen because, "Putin isn't that stupid".  Welp...

But sticking with regular programming of goings on in my limited world, we went to an RV show yesterday.  No, we won't be getting an RV, it was mainly something to do on a Saturday afternoon after  a week of cold cold temperatures and resultant cabin fever.

So we looked at a few RVs but mainly people-watched.  All of the RVs on display were pull-beind trailer types.  IF we were ever to get any sort of RV, it would likely be a van that we customize.  No trailers.  There was this cute doggie trailer hanging out with the land barges.

Having been to an RV show a few years ago (again, just for the heck of it), we were not surprised by people walking around with yard sticks.  Apparently, serious RV shoppers walk around with yard sticks.  

We did not bring a yard stick.  We don't even own a yard stick.  

Not a bad way to kill a couple of hours, and I actually did have to visit my boyfriend, John Elway.

Eventually, the Country Western music wafting through the event center reached a saturation point, and we said our farewells to the RVs.  

Many of the campers were sold during the event, so I guess people actually purchase these things.  I think the industry has been hit, like others, with supply chain delays, so buyers were probably hot for ready RVs they could actually see and touch.

That was pretty much the good week.  Magnum was out of town for work.  He always manages these work trips to the warm places when we have crap winter weather.  Hadn't traveled since pre-covid.  Then he boards a plane, and *BAM*, single digit temperatures for days.  

I'm ready to say, "Oh, hi March".